


like you already know your heart will never be broken by me.

by LLReid



Series: kamilah’s forever. [11]
Category: Bloodbound (Visual Novels)
Genre: Canon LGBTQ Character, Domestic Fluff, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Prom, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Same-Sex Marriage, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29620932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LLReid/pseuds/LLReid
Summary: Inspired by; Maybe by James Arthur.~~~~“Time really does fly, doesn’t it?,” she whispered. “Two seconds ago they were five years old and deeply concerned with mortals inadvertently stabbing the vampire Santa we established had a clan full of immortal elves at the North Pole on the Dark Solstice— now they’re making casual sex jokes and calling themselves... man whores, was it?”Anastasia snorted and nodded. “Man whores.”“Man whores,” she repeated, shaking her head. “None of the parenting books prepared us for that one.”
Relationships: Kamilah Sayeed/Anastasia Sayeed, Kamilah Sayeed/Main Character (Bloodbound), Zahra Sayeed/Adam Mikaelson
Series: kamilah’s forever. [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108751
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	like you already know your heart will never be broken by me.

“You seem nervous,” Kamilah said to one of their children’s closest mortal friends that she’d known for years. Nervous was understating how poor Adam seemed to be feeling as he waited next to Jax — in matching tuxedos, no less — for his prom date to finish getting ready.

The young mortal boy smiled at her and fiddled anxiously with the corsage in his hands. “I’ve had a crush on Zahra for years. It took me months to pluck up the courage to ask her. I’m just glad she said yes!”

Kamilah studied the mortal in awe. There were not many people who’d say something like that in front of her. Just like that, no hesitation or insecurity to be found in his tone or facial expression. His confidence around her caught her completely off guard and she gaped at him in a stunned silence for almost twenty full seconds. His expression never faltered, though. He just smiled and watched her mouth work to make some sort of intelligible sound, waiting for her answer as he oozed at least the illusion of complete confidence.

“I— good,” she cleared her throat, “Annie and I approve of the match.”

His smile broadened and he nodded his head. “That means a lot to me.”

Their son clapped an affectionate hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “She likes you, man. You’re golden— but if you break her heart I’ll break your face.”

Adam smiled widely. “I’ll break my own face before breaking her heart.”

She barely resisted the urge to smile. At the fact their seventeen year old son was so protective of his twin sister and at the fact Adam’s energy seemed to match Zahra’s exactly. Were any other young man standing in her living room with the intent on taking either of their children out, she might’ve been tempted to have a few of her daggers on display as a subtle warning of what would happen if they stepped a toe out of line. However, she had actually come to like Adam in the years that he’d grown close to their children. He was well spoken and polite, unfazed by their family’s fame, fortune, or the fact they were vampires, and seemed to have been a good influence on their children.

As far as mortal teenagers went, this one was considerably less irritating than the vast majority that visited their home on a regular basis. 

“What’s taking her so long?,” Kamilah asked as Anastasia appeared at her side.

“She’s just putting on perfume.” The Bloodkeeper sighed happily as she took in the sight of their son, who now towered over her by more than an entire foot and would be on his way to study medicine at Belvoire University come September. “You’re both looking wonderful.”

Jax did a playful twirl and spun a laughing Adam beneath his arm. “If one of us doesn’t get Prom King in these suits I’m getting Zahra to set a bunch of Ferals loose in the school,” he said. “There’s just no way any straight cis guy is going to be better dressed than us.”

“You’ll get it, for sure,” Adam smirked. “You had half of the football team trying to be your prom date and the teachers have been obsessed with you since you won that poetry competition freshman year and won new computers for the school.”

“I still don’t understand why you don’t have a date, though,” Kamilah chuckled.

“Why settle for one man when you can have a whole football team of heartsick mortals to choose from?”

“Jax!,” laughed Anastasia. “That is terrible.”

“And also mildly concerning,” she sighed, shaking her head in dismay. 

Jax simply winked at them and then said, “I’m the best looking young gay vampire in New York City and our family is basically immortal royalty. I have options is all I’m saying— committing to one guy seems dumb.”

“You’re such a man whore,” Zahra laughed from the top of the stairs, drawing everybody’s attention away from Jax.

Any witty response he could’ve come up with died on his lips at the sight of his sister in one of Anastasia’s old gowns that she’d loved ever since she was a little girl. The lilac gown she'd chosen was the colour of the plants Kamilah had only recently planted in her garden, the rippling watered silk seeming to subtly change from amethyst to periwinkle to nearly magenta in different lights. 

It was a simple gown with no sleeves or overskirt or ruffles, it clung to her body like a second skin and had a classic demi-train in the back and a low, square-cut bodice. An intricately woven string of diamonds was wrapped around her throat. Matching the clip that had been artfully entwined in her half-pinned-up copper coloured hair that grazed her shoulders.

She looked just like Anastasia.

“You look— I— Wow,” the mortal stammered as he stepped up to her to present her with the corsage he’d saved up to buy for her.

Zahra’s cheeks flushed scarlet and she whispered, “You’re looking pretty ‘wow’ yourself.”

“Are you trying to kill me?,” he breathed, his lupine eyes widening. “Damn.”

“Ssshhh,” Zahra hissed before starting to giggle. “Everyone can hear you.”

He smirked at her. “I can’t tell my date she’s beautiful?”

Zahra’s cheeks turned an even brighter shade of pink and she bit down on her bottom lip to try to stop herself from smiling too widely. “No. No, you can’t.” 

Adam’s cheeks immediately turned the same colour as Zahra’s and the light in her eyes that matched the mortal’s told everyone that looked at them together that at that moment in time they were the centre of each other’s universe. Their excited giggling let the world know it was a new and totally overwhelming experience for the both of them.

She and Anastasia shared a knowing glance. They’d seen this relationship coming from the moment their daughter had gotten herself in trouble yelling at a transphobic substitute teacher on his behalf. 

“What do you think, mama?,” Zahra asked her with a nervous smile.

“You’re a vision,” she breathed, blinking the tears from her eyes at the sight of their children so grown up.

“You look like mom’s twin,” Jax said.

“I said that, too,” beamed Zahra. “Do you think so, mama?”

She chuckled and nodded her head. “Yes. You’d have to be blind not to see the resemblance.”

Zahra and Anastasia shared an excited smile at that.

How those past seventeen years had managed to pass so quickly, she just didn’t know. It felt like mere moments ago Anastasia had been pregnant and they’d been devouring every parenting book they could get their hands on. Now here they were, the parents of two well adjusted adult children; one of whom was determined to become a neurosurgeon and the other who’d been one of the few applicants accepted to The Juilliard School to follow her passion for musical theatre.

“Take our picture?,” Jax asked as he passed Anastasia his phone, knowing all too well that she was better with taking decent pictures. “I need a few funny ones as the third wheel to post online.”

“You’re hardly the third wheel when you have like six guys waiting for you at the dance,” Zahra teased.

“Six?!,” Kamilah yelped. “I assumed having more than one man meant two, perhaps three, but six?! You have been spending far too much time with your Auntie Serafine!”

All three of the teenagers started laughing at her horror and their son dipped into a deep waisted bow as Zahra and Adam applauded him. “Hey, at least I’m not gonna accidentally make you guys grandmas tonight.”

“Jax!,” both she and Anastasia spluttered.

Jax gave them his biggest shit eating smirk. “All I’m saying is that statistically, many of my straight mortal counterparts are going to wind up in that sort of jam tonight. I’m a gay vampire, it’s like a triple protection because you guys can’t become grandmas until we decide we want to go through Raines Corp’s fertility program. It’s a win, win, win.”

“He basically just admitted to being a man whore out loud,” Zahra goaded. “Everyone heard that, right?!”

Jax reached over and playfully punched her shoulder, a gesture that was returned immediately and only intensified the laughter in the room. “This is a sex positive household, you asshole,” he smirked at his sister. “I’m a man whore and proud, god damn it.”

“This may be a sex positive household but could you maybe hold off on announcing things like this until your mother and I are significantly drunker than we are now?,” Anastasia sighed, shaking her head and trying not to laugh as she snapped pictures. 

“You might only be weeks away from turning eighteen but this conversation would’ve given me a heart attack, were I mortal,” she huffed.

“She technically started it by calling me a man whore,” Jax smirked.

“You technically started it by sticking your dick in anything that moves,” Zahra fired back.

“Zahra!,” she and Anastasia laughed.

“God, I love it over here,” Adam chuckled. “My parents would’ve whacked me with a Bible the moment I even mentioned premarital sex.”

“Mortals,” huffed Zahra.

“Bloody mortals,” Jax added.

All she could do was laugh. Really, that was literally all she could do.

She was really just thankful that they’d raised their children to be so comfortable around them that these conversations weren’t awkward or riddled with any embarrassment at all. She saw no logical reason why many parents tended to freak out the moment their adult children tried to discuss this sort of stuff with them, and thought it an abject failure of parenthood if young people didn’t feel like they could discuss this stuff around their parents. How else would they become well-informed, given the state of the American education system?

“Be safe,” she said to Jax as they prepared to leave. “Do not leave your drinks unattended. If anyone has managed to sneak in alcohol, be responsible about it. If your sister has a drink, keep an eye on her. Party drugs are bad and if you see any, you had better stay away from them. Stay together on the way home. If there is any trouble at all, you call us immediately. Yes?”

He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I always am careful, mama. You’ve taught both of us well— we’ll look out for each other.”

She nodded, relaxing some as Zahra ran up to her to give her a tight hug before leaving. “Text me when you arrive and when you’re leaving, alright?”

“Yes, mama,” she said softly. “I’ll send pictures of the decorations and random stuff too.”

“I look forward to it.”

She leaned closer to her ear and whispered. “I have two daggers in my clutch, just incase.”

She huffed in amusement, smiling proudly all the while. “That’s my girl.”

“I’ll have them both home by midnight in one piece,” Adam beamed as he offered Zahra his arm, which she took as her cheeks turned red once again. 

“I don’t doubt you will,” Anastasia smiled as she looped her arms around her waist and watched as they piled into the elevator. “Have fun, all of you.”

They really were all grown up, she realised, shaking her head in awe. 

They’d really done a damn good job at raising them.

She breathed in deeply, relishing in the serenity of her own heart that was aching with tenderness. With memories... so many treasured memories of the past seventeen years.

A chorus of goodbyes and I love yous echoed out from inside the elevator as the doors shut, leaving them alone in their empty penthouse with only their children’s pets for company; a Bombay cat named Loki, a Bengal cat named Thor, a golden retriever named Dobby, a tank full of tropical fish named after the characters in Finding Nemo, three Syrian hamsters named Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy, and two Holland Lop rabbits named Gloria and Jay. 

Anastasia stood on her toes and stole a chaste kiss from her lips, her thumb trailing slowly across her chiselled cheekbone.

“Are you alright?,” she murmured, holding her smaller frame flush against her own.

“I really am okay,” Anastasia breathed, her twinkling glacial eyes focused on her’s. “You?”

Kamilah sighed and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Truth being told, their children growing up was more than she could stand. Of course her Annie was okay. Of course seeing them so grown up unsettled her too, but ancient vampire had no doubt her wife would always soldier on, always come out on top. 

They were always going to be okay.

“Time really does fly, doesn’t it?,” she whispered. “Two seconds ago they were five years old and deeply concerned with mortals inadvertently stabbing the vampire Santa we established had a clan full of immortal elves at the North Pole on the Dark Solstice— now they’re making casual sex jokes and calling themselves... man whores, was it?”

Anastasia snorted and nodded. “Man whores.”

“Man whores,” she repeated, shaking her head. “None of the parenting books prepared us for that one.”

The Bloodkeeper let out a watery laugh and drew her face down so it was rested in the crook of her neck and gently rocked her from side to side. It was at times like this Kamilah was glad her wife knew instinctively when she needed a hug, for what she herself still did not always seem to realise right away was that her hugs were the stuff of magic and there was very little they could not make right. Deep in there somewhere there was still the very physically affectionate little girl who’d lived those thousands of years ago who loved a good hug.

She sighed and nuzzled her face against the skin of her neck, tickling her hammering pulse with the tip of her nose. This was what she needed to relax. Give her the pillow of her wife’s strong, ever-dependable shoulders that she could bury her head in and she was transformed.

“When I was zipping her into the dress she was asking me again why they don’t have more siblings,” Anastasia chuckled as she led her by the hand towards the fully stocked private bar that stood in their rooftop garden that was now their nightly hangout that the warmer months of the year had rolled in. 

“What did you say?”

“Just that the pregnancy was hard on me and that we’re fulfilled with having the two of them— I told her that we never say never because we don’t know what the centuries will bring, but for now things are good.”

“Jax told me three days ago that he understood why you carried them,” she commented. “Apparently the thought of me with pregnancy hormones is the stuff nightmares are made of— and I suppose he was not wrong. We’d have to move to Antarctica the moment the hormones started to hit, lest there be a dozen mass stabbings everyday in the city for nine months.”

Anastasia giggled at that but didn’t contradict her, as she knew damn well it was very true. It was one of the reasons they’d decided she’d be the one to carry their children— her temperament seemed better suited for the highs and lows of all the hormonal mood swings. That, and the fact that not having full autonomous control of her body for nine months was something that would be very, very triggering for her to endure.

“You said it, babe,” Anastasia smirked as Kamilah playfully scooped her up and sat her on the polished edge of the bar and pressed the button that made all the LED lights concealed around their hidden oasis that crowned the city flicker to life.

She was unspeakably grateful she didn’t have to hide who she really was and could actually jest about her stabby nature with her wife. Most women would’ve tried to fix her the moment she’d first reached for her blades in their presence, she was certain. But her sweet Annie was wise enough to know that people could not be fixed, especially not women like Kamilah. Not in the way that most people would try to fix her if given half the chance to do so. Instead of trying to change her or getting irritated with her, Anastasia had chosen to understand, and help her when the urge to behead a foolish imbecile hit. Not repair her.

“I must point out that you weren’t much more stable when your hormones got going,” she teased affectionately, as she moved to begin making them some summery cocktails. Despite being as gifted a scientist as Anastasia was, her cocktails were somehow so terrible Kamilah had banned her long ago from even trying to make their drinks— they came second only to Lily’s on the list of terrible cocktails she’d had in her life. “I recall you seriously wishing to bulldoze the Raines Corp skyscraper on multiple occasions when you got into bad moods— there was also the occasion you felt your fried eggs had looked at you funny at breakfast and then proceeded to cry for hours in a meltdown that was so intense it gave Lily a panic attack, made Serafine drink an entire bottle of Absolute Vodka, and had Adrian binge eat so many mini muffins that he vomited... twice.”

“Those were the days,” Anastasia sighed wistfully, her eyes tracking the dog as it barrelled out of penthouse and began charging straight for the pool. “Who ever would’ve thought the first time you had me up here that we’d be sitting here now with a house full of pets and two kids going off to college in the fall...”

She heaved a sigh as she watched the dim witted creature she’d somehow grown quite fond of diving head first into the deep end of the pool as the two cats watched on from beneath one of the loungers, and the rabbits saw from their enclosed hutch and outdoor run that they lived in during the Summer. 

The first time Anastasia had accompanied her here it had been a cold and clinical place, lacking; the perfectly tended flowers and trees that had been blooming now for decades and added a distinct layer of sweetness to the air, the greenhouses she used more often in the winter, the large wooden play area that Adrian had built on the twins first birthday that they’d made many happy family memories on, the hot tub that many a family dinner had ended in, the state of the art barbecue that Adrian and Jax ruled over and had banned anyone else from touching, and the numerous comfortable pieces of furniture that Anastasia had picked out. Now it was a home. Filled with warmth and so many happy memories that she could scarcely even think of them all.

She’d always believed that a garden should make you feel you'd entered into privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and when she had first went about creating this space it had seemed to her that, to achieve this, she should put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry. Now all these decades later, her vision had become a reality and they were sitting in a rooftop garden more beautiful than even her rampaging imagination could ever have conjured up, and they were being serenaded by the vibrant colours of all the flowers.

“I never would’ve dared to dream I’d ever have this,” she said, her eyes focused on the cocktail shaker in her hands. Thinking back to that night, she had been so crammed full of fears that if Anastasia were to reach out and touch her she might either fly or break into a million pieces. “Truth being told, I still sometimes fear I’ll wake up alone again one day and all of this will have been some sick dream.”

She’d never admitted that before. That sometimes she still genuinely feared this happiness was little more than a figment of her darkened old mind. Because really, this whole time she had been enjoying her hard won peace, she had been finding treasures in places she had not initially wanted to search. She had been hearing wisdom from tongues she had not initially wanted to listen to. She had been finding beauty where she had not initially wanted to look. And she had learned so much and found so much joy from journeys she had not initially wanted to take.

All she wanted now was for things to be like this forever. For her nights to always be aglow with the bliss of the day. To live with unbloodied hands, rested feet, and kissed cheeks. To be so close to her beloved and her children that even when they were apart they were still like two mixed colours of paint, impossible to separate.

“Wanna know a secret?”

She raised a brow. “Always.”

“On my bad days I worry about the same thing,” Anastasia confessed. “I worry that I’ll wake up in my Belvoire dorm room; mortal, alone in yet another a foreign country trying to find some sense of belonging, chronically clinically depressed and unable to afford treatment if I still want to eat the little food I can manage to convince myself I need, and so anxious about everything that small overdoses of Class A party drugs are the only thing strong enough to make me sleep for an hour or two.”

She gave her thigh an affectionate squeeze. “You do?”

Anastasia nodded. “But then I remember that my imagination is nowhere near good enough to think all this up— and that when I met you I genuinely didn’t think I’d make it to twenty-five, never mind live long enough to have all this... so I wouldn’t have bothered to dream about it either.”

Kamilah’s lips turned upwards into a smile. “We’ve certainly done well for ourselves, haven’t we?”

“We’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations, I think. Including our own.” Anastasia accepted her Caipirinha with a smile, clinking the rim of her glass against hers. 

“Indeed we have.” She took a small sip of her drink and positioned herself so that she was standing with one of Anastasia legs framing either side of her torso.

Anastasia’s lips ever so gently touched her’s, and suddenly she felt everything stirring inside her growing wings, letting loose, and flying. It was one of the kisses she liked the most and had never shared with anyone else before her, one of the slow chaste ones. It was as much mingled breaths as it was gentle touches, as much passion as skill. One of the ones where Anastasia would lean in from the side, and she’d have to turn a little to make it happen.

“My Annie,” she whispered, her breath hot on her wife’s kiss swollen lips. Even after all this time she still loved her with all the reckless abandon of a sudden wild rain. “Thank you.” 

“For what?” Anastasia couldn’t stop smiling, her face aching with it. That smile was bright and sweet and hot enough to melt solid steel.

“For setting me free.”

~ fin.


End file.
